No Ordinary Joe's in Game
2Pavelski and Thornton score key goals in 4-3
win

5/2/10 - By Mike Lee -

A guy named Joe came up big in Game 2 of the
Sharks Western Conference Semi Final match-up with the Detroit Red Wings on
Sunday night. Joe Pavelski turned in a multi-goal performance for the third
straight game in the playoffs, becoming the first player to do it since Mario
Lemieux in 1992, and Joe Thornton scored the game-winner in a wild 4-3 Sharks
win at HP Pavilion. San Jose overcame a 3rd period deficit to take a 2-0 lead
in the series.

Trailing 3-2 as they entered the final 20 minutes of
play, San Jose turned up the heat on a road weary Red Wings lineup, drawing 5
penalties in the period. The Sharks would tie the game with a Pavelski power
play goal early in the period, then take the lead later in the period on
Thornton s 1st goal of the playoffs.

Obviously hes in the zone right now,"
Sharks head coach Todd McLellan said of Pavelski after the game. "Everything he
touches seems to go in the net. He had eleven shots on goal. He feels very
comfortable. But hes earned that. He works hard on every shift and
hes diligent. Hes a catalyst right now.

With his
defensive contributions being overlooked in the playoffs because of a lack of
scoring contribution, Thornton has been much maligned. He would silence some of
his doubters with what may be the biggest goal of his career to complete the
comeback.

For the Sharks, it capped an impressive comeback against a
very good team. San Jose created those opportunities in the 3rd period by
throwing continuous pressure on the Detroit net. San Jose would draw holding,
hooking, slashing, tripping and too many men penalties in that final period to
setup the big comeback.

San Jose opened the game with two point blank
shots on Red Wings netminder Jimmy Howard, who made the early saves to keep the
Sharks off the board.

With the Sharks putting shots on net from in
tight, it seemed like a cruel joke when Pavel Datsyuk cranked a 25-foot shot
from the high slot, catching the upper right corner of the San Jose goal.
Evgeni Nabokov had a good look at the long drive, but rather than attacking the
shot, he backed up on the shot, allowing it to sail over his left shoulder for
the 1-0 Red Wings lead.

Justin Abdelkader was sent off at 8:29 after
running into Nabokov to give the Sharks their 2nd power play of the period.
Like the four previous games, Joe Pavelski would come through with a goal. This
time on the power play, Pavelski sent a shot in from the point after taking a
Dany Heatley feed. The long blast found its way past Howard after Patrick
Marleau created a partial screen in the slot.

Pavelski would setup the
next goal, throwing a puck toward the slot from the outside of the left circle.
Ryane Clowe made a spectacular play on the pass while he was back-skating
toward the net. Clowe allowed the puck to slide between his skates, before
sending a backhand shot on goal with his back to the net. The deflection
flipped past Howard for the 2-1 Sharks lead.

"I saw Seto going back
door harder than anyone," said Pavalski. "I knew Clowie was there. Clowie made
the play really. Won that battle, held on to it, and was able to get it in
there. "

That lead would be short lived after Heatley took a slashing
penalty at 11:24. Detroit would knot the game at 2-2 right before the penalty
expired when Tomas Holmstrom deflected a shot from a spot at the top of the
crease. Brian Rafalski cranked a shot from the point that John Franzen
deflected, before it got to Holmstrom.

Patrick Marleau was called for boarding Brad Stuart
right at the horn, giving the Red Wings power play to open the 2nd period.
Detroit did everything in their power to convert, which would pay off, right as
Marleaus penalty expired. Niklas Lidstrom uncorked a slap shot from the
top of the left circle that flew past Nabokovs glove hand Jason Demers
would put a shot that was almost a carbon copy of Lidstroms, but rather
than finding twine, the shot clanked off the crossbar.

Todd Bertuzzi
was whistled for a holding penalty that looked more like a trip 3:01 into the
3rd period, then Niklas Kronwall followed that up with a hooking penalty 41
seconds later. The Sharks would knot the game on the ensuing 5-on-3 when
Pavelski punched home a rebound from just outside the left post.

The
Sharks had collapsed on Howard as a number of shots went flying toward the
Detroit net. Pavelski would finally end the wild sequence by chopping at the
puck with three Red Wings sprawled out in front of the net.

San Jose
would score the game winner on a tough break for Detroit with just under 9
minutes to play. Lidstrom attempted to take a slap shot, but his stick broke on
the play. Heatley chipped the puck past the defenseman and raced up ice with
Thornton on his left. The Sharks sniper wristed a shot from 15 feet, that
Howard stopped, but the deflection kicked out, hitting a Red Wings defender and
landing right on Thornton s stick for the easy put back.

"Whoever
the d-man was, he played it pretty well," said Heatley. "I tried to make a shot
low blocker, he made a good save and Jumbo did a good job stopping at the net.
I'm not shooting for a rebound there, I'm trying to score."

The Sharks swarmed Howard with 4 minutes remaining in
the period, but the Red Wings goaltender made the save of the game on Pavelski.
The Sharks centerman had a point blank chance with the Red Wings netminder
parked on his back side. Pavelski tried to lift a shot from just outside the
crease, but Howard stuck a glove out to knock down the shot.

San Jose
would grab the rebound, but Dan Boyle was tripped by Valteri Filppula giving
the Sharks another power play. The officials would even things up when Heatley
was whistled for a terrible goaltender interference penalty after he was pushed
into Howard.

The home crowd may have contributed with a minute left
when after Babcock pulled Howard. With crucial seconds ticking off the clock
and the arena roaring, Detroit got crossed up by putting too many men on the
ice. Their 10th minor penalty of the game would drive the final nail in the
coffin as San Jose easily killed off the final 64 seconds to take the second
game of the series.

We were short handed 10 times, so anyway you
look at it youre not going to win any games being shorthanded 10 times,"
Red Wings head coach Mike Babcock said. "For a team that was first or second as
far as least penalized team in the regular season, obviously after these two
games we need to look after our sticks, and have to kill penalties because we
are going to the box way too many times.

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